Nikkei falls below 19,000 first time since Mar 16--plunges1522 points in morning trading

Nikkei falls below 19,000 first time since Mar 16
Nikkei falls below 19,000 first time since Mar 16

TOKYO, April 17 (Reuters) - Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei average fell below the 19,000 mark for the first time since March 16, adding to early losses as Nasdaq composite futures traded on Globex extended last week's tumble in U.S. share prices, traders said.

``After seeing the continued slide (in Nasdaq on Globex), traders assumed they will see a further sell-off in U.S. trading hours later today,'' said Koji Hatano, a senior analyst at Sakura Institute of Research.

The Nikkei average had fallen 1,522.30 points or 7.45 percent to 18,912.38 as of 0118 GMT.

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/000416/by.html

TOKYO, April 17 (Reuters) - Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei average fell below the 19,000 mark for the first time since March 16, adding to early losses as Nasdaq composite futures traded on Globex extended last week's tumble in U.S. share prices, traders said.

``After seeing the continued slide (in Nasdaq on Globex), traders assumed they will see a further sell-off in U.S. trading hours later today,'' said Koji Hatano, a senior analyst at Sakura Institute of Research.

The Nikkei average had fallen 1,522.30 points or 7.45 percent to 18,912.38 as of 0118 GMT.

Answers

TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo stocks dived more than eight percent on
Monday after last week's carnage on Wall Street
prompted investors to bail out of both old and new economy shares.

The frenetic selling triggered circuit breakers that forced a brief
halt to trade in TOPIX futures and options. The Tokyo Stock Exchange
also temporarily restricted arbitrage selling of all stock indices as
the tumble gathered pace.

The dollar jumped, rising to 105.50 yen from around 104.60/70 yen in
early Tokyo trading due in part to unconfirmed talk of dollar buying
by the Bank of Japan.

In addition to the impact from U.S. trading, Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei
average was dragged down by selling related to Sunday's announcement
of a planned reshuffle in its components to reflect Japan's shift to
the new economy, traders said.

``Falls in U.S. stocks dragged down Tokyo shares. But the reshuffle
in the Nikkei component played a major role, too,'' said Kazunori
Jinnai, a deputy general manager at Daiwa Securities SB Capital
Markets.

At 0130 GMT, the benchmark Nikkei average had plunged to 18,700.93,
losing 8.48 percent of its value and slipping below 19,000 for the
first time since March 16.

Nasdaq Futures Slide Further In Asian Trade

A slide of 100 points, or three percent, in the Nasdaq composite
futures contract for June traded on Globex further hurt sentiment.

``After seeing the continued slide (in Nasdaq on Globex), traders
assumed they would see further sell-offs again in U.S. trading hours
later today,'' said Koji Hatano, a senior analyst at Sakura Institute
of Research.
The Dow Jones industrial average logged a record single-day point
fall on Friday, closing down 617.78 points or 5.66 percent at
10,305.77 and the technology-driven Nasdaq composite index lost a
record 355.49 points or 9.67 percent to close at 3,321.29 as higher-
than-expected inflation numbers traumatized Wall Street.

``Even before Friday's New York tumble, some IT (information
technology) issues like Softbank Corp and Oracle Corp Japan had been
in a correction phase. These shares are especially vulnerable to the
New York drop,'' said Kunihiro Hatae, an equities general manager at
Tokyo Securities.

High-Tech Shares Battered

Among the biggest losers in Tokyo's morning bloodbath were high-tech
shares, following their U.S. counterparts' nosedive.

Sony Corp was ask-only at 12,880 yen against Friday's close at
13,280. A day earlier local media reported the trade ministry was
slapping export controls on its hugely hyped new Playstation2 video
game machine because it could be used for military purposes.

Internet investor Softbank Corp was ask-only at 60,300 yen against
its close at 61,300. It closed down 7.54 percent on Friday and has
lost about 70 percent of its value since marking an intraday peak of
198,000 yen on February 15.

Shares in ``Old Japan'' stocks such as steelmakers and miners were
being heavily sold.

But not all analysts had lost hope.

``The markets will naturally see some rough going until the Nasdaq
and U.S. stock markets begin to show signs of stability,'' said Kathy
Matsui, chief equities strategist at Goldman Sachs in Tokyo.

``I think foreign investor selling which is now coming through will
be temporary and I also think there will be continued buying on
weakness in some of these tech and communications,'' she said.

But traders said the plunge of both the Dow and the Nasdaq had been
especially shocking since Japanese investors had thought they could
rely on ``old economy'' stocks as a safe haven in the face of
volatility among high-tech shares.